dataset

Variables used in statistical analyse

Geographical location of tracked barn swallows

The file contains position of barn swallows Hirundo rustica (n=19). For position determination during migration cycle, we used light-level locators (type Intigeo-P55B1). Fieldwork was carried out in the period 2013-2015 in South Bohemia (48°59'6.619"N, 14°46'48.355"E), Czech Republic. For position determination we used R statistical package GeoLight 2.0.0, when we excluded the period ± 15-21 days around each equinox

genotypes

Microsatellite genotype

<i>Alu</i> insertion polymorphisms in the African Sahel and the origin of Fulani pastoralists

<p><b>Background:</b> The origin of Western African pastoralism, represented today by the Fulani nomads, has been a highly debated issue for the past decades, and has not yet been conclusively resolved.</p> <p><b>Aim:</b> This study focused on <i>Alu</i> polymorphisms in sedentary and nomadic populations across the African Sahel to investigate patterns of diversity that can complement the existing results and contribute to resolving issues concerning the origin of West African pastoralism.</p> <p><b>Subjects and methods:</b> A new dataset of 21 <i>Alu</i> biallelic markers covering a substantial part of the African Sahel has been analysed jointly with several published North African populations.</p> <p><b>Results:</b> Interestingly, with regard to <i>Alu</i> variation, the relationship of Fulani pastoralists to North Africans is not as evident as was earlier revealed by studies of uniparental loci such as mtDNA and NRY. <i>Alu</i> insertions point rather to an affinity of Fulani pastoralists to Eastern Africans also leading a pastoral lifestyle.</p> <p><b>Conclusions:</b> It is suggested that contemporary Fulani pastoralists might be descendants of an ancestral Eastern African population that, while crossing the Sahara in the Holocene, admixed slightly with a population of Eurasian (as evidenced by uniparental polymorphisms) ancestry. It seems that, in the Fulani pastoralists, <i>Alu</i> elements reflect more ancient genetic relationships than do uniparental genetic systems.</p

Table_S1_online

Frequencies of M. m. musculus alleles for each locus and sampling site. Distance along the transect and effective number of alleles (Ne) are also given. h = hybrid index expressed as the frequency of musculus alleles averaged across the six diagnostic allozyme loci